A leaked recording of a manager at one of the nation’s largest rail companies shows him telling workers to skip inspections and not report cars similar to the kind of problem last month’s major train derailment in Ohio. is responsible for landing.
The Norfolk Southern derailment and the subsequent investigation into its causes have invited increased scrutiny into the rail industry’s safety practices.
Audio obtained by the Guardian, Listens to the manager A former Union Pacific employee to stop tagging railcars for broken bearings. The manager says that doing so will delay other goods.
A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board on the Norfolk Southern derailment found that a wheel-bearing failure was to blame for the disaster.
The recording suggests that safety issues are widespread in the rail industry.
Federal regulators have previously raised concerns about rail companies reducing the size of their workforces, and industry leaders have repeatedly fought new safety rules around braking systems.
The number of train derailments among the nation’s largest freight companies has increased over the past decade to two derailments for every million miles traveled in 2022, up from 1.71 in 2013.
The recording emerged as residents of the small town continued to worry about their safety after the disaster, which saw responders controllably burn toxic chemicals aboard the derailed trains, billowing black smoke. Thick plumes were sent into the air and raised. Widespread concerns about health effects.
However, many local residents have complained of various health problems following the toxic blast, including difficulty breathing, chest pains, rashes, and even screaming sounds, which they described as It was as if they had inhaled helium.
Independent tests released earlier this week by researchers at Texas A&M University and Carnegie Mellon found elevated levels of the toxic chemical acrolein, which could pose immediate and long-term health risks.
Previous analysis by researchers of EPA data suggested nine chemicals in the area were at higher-than-normal levels, a potential long-term problem for residents’ health.
EPA Previously announced That it would require Norfolk Southern to test for levels of dioxin, a type of toxic chemical that breaks down slowly and can cause cancer, and reproductive and developmental problems.
